'Details sought include Third-party info, hence exempted under RTI Act': NMC on RTI query on Faculty Gap in Medical Colleges

New Delhi: Stating that the details sought under the RTI includes third-party information, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has refused to disclose the names of the medical colleges that fell short on faculty counts and other teaching infrastructure.

Recently activist Dr. KV Babu filed an application under the Right to Information Act seeking the details of the notices issued by the NMC Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) to the medical colleges for deficiencies in Clinical Material and staff during the period from 01/01/2023 to 30/04/2024. He also sought to know the details of the fine imposed or the action taken by the NMC UG Board from 01/01/2023 to 30/04/2024.

In response, the Apex medical regulatory body in India has said that the concerned information includes third party information. "Since the information sought by you, includes third party information, hence the same is exempted for as per Section 8(1) (j) of the Right to Information Act, 2005," the reply to Dr. Babu's RTI application stated.

This comes at a time when reportedly more than 80% of Indian Medical Colleges were issued show-cause notices by NMC for not meeting even the minimum criteria laid down by the Commission.

Also Read: NMC slaps show-cause notice to nearly 500 out of 706 medical colleges for MSR non-compliance: Report

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that around 500 medical colleges out of the 706 colleges across the country have received show-cause notices from the Apex Medical Commission for failure to comply with the Minimum Standard Requirements.

During the NMC inspection conducted at these medical colleges, officials noted absenteeism of faculties, inadequate and poor infrastructure, and student grievances on issues such as ragging, inadequate hostels, and poor student-teacher relationships. Following this, the Commission imposed penalties ranging from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh and going up to Rs 1 crore.

Commenting on the matter, Dr. Babu KV told Medical Dialogues, "The purpose of my RTI with the NMC was to know the deficiencies of faculties and clinical materials in various medical colleges so as to get an assessment about the functioning of various medical colleges and to get a clear idea about the standards of UG medical medical education in the country. To my surprise it was declined citing third party information. It should be noted that the erstwhile MCI regularly uploaded the inspection details on the website and functioned in a transparent way. It looks like the NMC which replaced the NMC is functioning in an opaque manner."

However, referring to the issue a top NMC official told The Telegraph that NMC has done away with the MCI's practice of inspections. Nowadays, assessments are made based on self-declaration forms that each medical college must submit to the Commission. As per the self-declaration forms, nearly 600 out of 684 medical colleges running MBBS courses in India have deficiencies and therefore such colleges are liable for fine. 

Explaining that the type and volume of deficiencies vary from college to college, the official added, "Some have 10 per cent, some have 50 per cent, some have 80 per cent — we want all the colleges to score 100 per cent...We give colleges time to address the gaps. If they don’t fulfil, we then impose fines. Colleges have started working on it (the gaps)."

Earlier, aiming to ensure the optimum level of transparency in functioning and facilities available in the medical colleges, NMC recently put the details of 684 medical colleges running MBBS courses in the public domain.

These details can be accessed under the "Annual Declaration" tab on the Apex Medical Regulator's (NMC) website. The Commission has uploaded various details of the medical colleges including the name and details of the medical college, application id, student admission details, hospital details, clinical load details, death/birth details in the locality, faculty details, and OT details.

Referring to this, the NMC official told The Telegraph that the public could correlate the details provided with the required NMC prescribed standards to determine which medical colleges have inadequate infrastructure. 

Also Read: Annual Declaration: NMC Publicises Details of 684 Medical Colleges Running MBBS Course